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moved back into his
shoulder. He swallowed the fresh surge of tears, and looked away
from the coffin. To think Laura and her child were in something so
cold, so final, didn’t feel right.
    Ember pushed a
tissue to the corner of her eyes, trying her best to hold it
together. Eli’s lips were pulled thinly together. Jack’s hand
brushed his brother’s arm. Eli responded with a squeeze of his arm.
Jack turned his attention back to the procession leaving the
house.
    Laid on top of
Laura was a beautiful large circle of deep red roses in full bloom.
The undertakers carefully lifted Laura out of the door and marched
slowly with her to the hearse. He nearly gasped when he saw Ayden
stumble out of the door behind Laura. Ayden was pale. His usually
sparkling blue eyes were dull and unfocused, ringed by red. He was
unshaven; a beard forming around his chin. Tabitha moved to Ayden,
helping him walk. Cora was slipping to the floor next to him, her
cries were silent. He held her upright until her mother was safely
in the hearse. One by one they climbed into the two
cars.
    A man wearing
a dark, immaculate suit and a striking top hat, walked slowly at
the front of the hearse, leading them to the end of the drive. He
was barely winning the fight for control. The mark of respect to
such a beautiful woman was pushing him over the edge. The cars
moved slowly behind Laura as they turned, heading towards his
cottage at the north of the village.
    He knew which
church they were going to. There was only one small church and
cemetery in the little village of Lemon Tree. Clio was also buried
there. The car pulled up outside his cottage for the man to take
his seat at the front of the hearse. The cars moved on. He looked
outside watching the world go by and wished this day would soon
end.
     
    *
     
    The church had
been overwhelmed by red roses. The smell was one that would make
Jack think of Laura. It would no doubt stay with him until the day
he died. The service had been beautiful. They hadn’t chosen hymns
like commoners usually do, and he appreciated the sentiment. It was
the way of the witches to express their grief in a different
way.
    Witches over
the centuries had played music that had meaning to them. Any music
or instrument sufficed. Lady in Red by Chris DeBurgh was Ayden’s choice of song. They
had sat in silence listening to the lyrics. As the soft music
filtered around the small church, Ayden had swayed to the song with
his eyes closed the entire time. Jack had swallowed an awful lot
during the four minute song.
    Once the final
instruments of the song faded away, the vicar mentioned the many
places Laura had seen in her short life. He often said the many
places with a small smile on his face. He told them how much Laura
loved her daughter, Cora, and how proud Laura was of who Cora had
become. It was at this point that Jack had lost his fight. The
tears slid down his cheeks before he could stop them.
    Cora had sat
in the front pew with Ayden. He’d sat next to her, her hand firmly
grasping his. Throughout the service her eyes had never left her
mother's coffin. He’d occasionally glanced at it, but knowing that
Laura and her child was in that cold, wooden coffin didn’t feel
right. She should have been laid out in the open, hands clasped
together, on soft pillows, dressed in white., as lovely in death as
she was in life. It sounded Shakespearean; he remembered the
description of Juliet’s final resting place, but he believed Laura
should have had this.
    At the
cemetery, after a few words from the vicar, Cora had stepped
towards the gaping hole in the ground to throw a single red rose.
She’d whispered something even he hadn’t heard, and still she
hadn't let go of his hand. Ayden had crumbled at the open grave,
his sobs racking his body as Tabitha soothed him. He’d taken Cora
away, walking her to the waiting cars.
    They sat in
silence as they made their way back to the shop for the wake.
Tabitha had insisted they needed to do